Are taxis getting a raw deal in the Clean Air Zones?

The introduction of clean air zones continues to raise controversy as more UK cities introduce charging zones, with older and dirtier vehicles forced to pay daily charges to enter the zones.

And while the arguments in favour of cleaner city centre air are undeniable, with urban dwellers more likely to suffer from respiratory diseases as a result of higher particulate and NOx levels, there are concerns that the way the charges are being applied are unfair, and in some cases downright cruel. London Mayor Sadiq Khan, we’re looking at you.

And many in the taxi and private hire sector believe they are getting a raw deal from a number of cities, where older cabs are coming subject to charges while private cars are not. This runs contrary to the oft-quoted view that taxis help reduce congestion and, by implication, pollution, by removing private cars from the roads.

That view seems to carry little weight in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for example, where a city centre CAZ went live on January 30. Under the scheme, non-compliant taxis or PHVs – vehicles that don’t meet Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel emissions standards – have to pay £12.50 per day to enter the city centre zone. A £50 seven-day pass was also available to lower costs for taxis. But private cars are exempt, regardless of emissions standard.

The Category C CAZ will cover most of the Newcastle city centre, including the Tyne, Swing, High Level and Redheugh bridges. Charges for taxis are now live, while charging for non-compliant vans will start in July 2023.

“Private cars, motorcycles, mopeds, newer vehicles and those with zero emissions will not be charged,” said the council in a statement, adding the CAZ was being brought in following a legal order issued by government to reduce “illegal levels of air pollution caused by traffic in certain areas”.

Understandably, operators in Newcastle are not happy with this state of affairs. Ian Shanks, managing director of Blueline, one of the city’s biggest private hire fleets, described the situation as “madness”. He said: “Regardless of age, a car can be decommissioned as a taxi and sold to a member of the public. They can then go and chug through the same town free of charge, likely carrying fewer people, so not saving additional trips, unlike a taxi. But as a taxi it faces a £12.50 per day charge.” How is that correct?”

David Lawrie, director of the National Private Hire and Taxi Association, said the rules would also see taxi drivers having to pay the charge when they were not working, if they used their licensed vehicle to travel into the city centre. He told the BBC: “The fact remains it’s a licensed vehicle and the purpose of its use is irrelevant.”

The pattern is repeated in Sheffield, where a CAZ went live on February 27. Like the Newcastle CAZ, Sheffield’s CAZ is a Class C charging zone, and is in place in the city centre and around the inner ring road. And as with the Newcastle CAZ, noncompliant private hire vehicles are already being charged £10 a day to enter the zone.

Sheffield Council has granted an exemption until June 5 for Hackney taxi operators to upgrade older vehicles in order to avoid having to pay £10 a day to enter the zone. But there is no extension for private hire vehicles, so vehicles that do not meet Euro 4 (petrol) or Euro 6 (diesel) emissions standards now have to pay the charge. And as with Newcastle, private cars are exempt.

Newcastle City Council denied the daily charges were a money-raising scheme, and said financial support was available for affected drivers and business owners. But drivers have complained that applications for financial support are taking months to process.

Both Newcastle and Gateshead councils acknowledged there had been high demand for the grants, with more than 1,300 applications. The councils said these were being processed “as quickly as possible” and any applicant who had not received a response would be given a temporary 120day exemption from any CAZ charges.

Shanks criticised the grants, saying they were only geared up to supplying new cars, rather than helping drivers with noncompliant cars upgrade to a slightly newer compliant car – for example, trading a Euro 5 diesel for a petrol-electric hybrid of a similar age and value.

He said: “The council only allows you to do any deal through a motor dealer. You can’t go private, nor can you go through auction. So the motor dealer knows your plight, and is asking top dollar for his car, while offering you bottom dollar for your trade in.”

He also said the trade-in value would be valued for the purpose of the grant at the price the driver paid for the car, not what is worth today. So for a 10-year-old car originally bought for £15,000 being traded against a new car worth £20,000, the amount of grant will be valued at the £5,000 difference, “not the £19,000 difference you have to pay due to the noncompliant car only being worth a grand”, he said.

Other councils are more generous. Bradford Council is offering taxi and private hire drivers grants of up to £10,000 to switch to cleaner vehicles. The council claims this is the highest grant of its type anywhere in the UK.

The grants, which will be available later this year, are to help with purchase, lease or running costs of electric vehicles. The move is part of efforts to improve air quality, following the introduction of the Bradford Clean Air Zone for the city area last September.

Bradford has been able to offer generous grants as relatively few private hire vehicles in its area will not meet the CAZ limits. The council says 98% of the 4,000 licensed taxi and private hire vehicles in the Bradford district already meet the CAZ standard – so only around 80 drivers would be subject to a daily charge.

But the council said the £4 million of funding was being made available to encourage take-up of EVs, including for hybrid vehicle drivers wanting to go fullyelectric. Drivers will be able to apply from May 2023, and the grant will be increased for non-Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles from £6,000 over 2 years to £10,000 over 2 years which brings it into line with the Hackney Carriage and Wheelchair Accessible Private Hire Vehicle EV grants.

Taxis that have already upgraded to other compliant vehicle types (such as petrol/electric hybrid) can apply for a topup grant if they choose to go fully electric.

Cllr Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s executive member for healthy people and places, said: “We are pleased to further extend our support to the Bradford taxi trade for the upgrade of their vehicles to fully electric by offering up to £10,000 per vehicle in grant funding to assist proprietors with the running costs of a fully electric Hackney Carriage or Private Hire Vehicle.

The grants are on a sliding scale depending on vehicle type. Bradford Council has published details of the Clean Air Taxi (CAT) programme, which includes the following:

Four-seat and 5-8 seat non-wheelchair accessible Private Hire Vehicles: up to

£3,200 for purchase of vehicle replacement. Up to £3,200 for LPG options, including the cost of converting an existing licensed Euro 5 or 6 petrol car to LPG, or against the purchase of a compliant LPG vehicle. LPG conversions must be in accordance with UKLPG Approved Installers Scheme. £6,000 is available for help towards the running costs of a fully electric vehicle with first payment of £3,000 on completion of application and second payment one year later subject to continued compliance with the terms and conditions of the award.

For Hackney Carriages and Wheelchair

Accessible Private Hire Vehicles, up to £5,000 is available for purchase of vehicle replacement or conversion of a noncompliant vehicle to compliant standard, such as LPG.

£10,000 is available for help towards the running costs of a fully electric vehicle with first payment of £5,000 on completion of application and second payment one year later subject to continued compliance with the terms and conditions of the award. Grants will only be awarded where a replacement vehicle is a ‘like for like’ replacement, or the replacement is a 4-seat petrol-electric hybrid private hire vehicle. The funding will be allocated on a firstcome, first-served basis.